The Root of the Problem - Group 1 - Session 2
from the game session held on 15 October, 2022
General Summary
After spending the afternoon in Stannilode asking questions about strange occurences around the town, Ahronelle, the Elven rogue, Dayve, the Goblin alchemist, Hestia, the halfling barbarian, Osric, the Human fighter, and Raelin, the Dwarven cleric found themselves back in the Tin Cup inn, which got considerably more crowded after quitting time at the smeltery, and even more so in the later evening as some of the workers made their way back to town from the mines in the hills.
As they discussed the information they discovered, and began to think about heading to the Tancreedy mine to deal with whatever was haunting it, Endrin, the Dwarven sorcerer strolled into the tavern. After a bit of back-and-forth, consisting of "Where were you when we were ready to leave?", and "Why didn't you wait for me?", the discussion moved back to the mine before the party retired for the evening.
In the morning, they headed out of town to the west and into the mountains. They had been given directions, with landmarks, by Dado Heywood, the Karnstown Mining Cooperative Agent, and the trail was well marked, so they did not anticipate too much trouble. Their route took them through a small canyon area where two mountains left narrow, steep-sided walls defining a passage no more than a hundred feet wide, but they knew the mine they were looking for was behod this passage. They also knew that a week or two before, the gnawed bones of Old Man Sanset had been found here, along with a few gnawed bones of his pack mule. The hapless prospectors belongings had been scattered around the area, as well.
Because of this, they were wary as they reached a point in the canyon where it branched into two narrower, parallel paths. As soon as they started down the right-side trail, their elevated caution allowed Raelin and Hestia to feel, if not hear, the sound of something quite heavy thudding to the ground just behind them and around the corner of the central mesa which split the canyon. A few seconds later, a huge creature lumbered around that corner.
Hunched over, but at least 12' tall if it were to stand upright, with long, sinewy arms ending in deadly-looking talon-like claws, the creature spied the party and, in a low guttural voice, uttered one word: "Yummmm". It's greenish skin tone, with sparse patches of wild, wiry hair added to its hideous appearance. The creature smiled, revealing rows of sharp cutting teeth, and a few tusklike ones as well in the gaping mouth beneath it's long, hooked nose.
Hestia, the halfling barbarian immediately charged the beast, pumping herself into a rage as she arrived at its feet. Ahronelle and Endrin began spreading out laterally to gain better position while Dayve charged partway and lobbed a firebomb at the creature. Osric also charged, and struck the creature with a two-handed swing of his greataxe.
The creature, which initially was focused on the bite-sized morsel that was standing before it seeming to get ready to throw a tantrum, was surprised by the axe blow, and quickly shifted his focus to its source. With a great swipe of its taloned arm, it struck at Osric, who was almost laid out by the heavy blow. This enabled Hestia to get in a few swings with her greatsword. The first of these struck the creature in the lower leg (the only part she could reach), but the backswing blow landed badly, and to the halfling's horror, the blade of her greatsword snapped in two as it struck against the creatures bony kneecap flat-bladed.
As Osric shifted to a single-hand grip to allow him to use his shield before another blow fell, and as the halfling was reduced to pounding on the huge creature with fists, more fire bombs from the alchemist, sling stones from the rogue, and magical attacks from the sorcerer rained down on the creature until it fell motionless to the ground.
Raelin the cleric, seeing that the Hestia and Osric had taken some damage (Osric had taken quite a bit), decided to cast an area-of-effect heal spell on the two. This restured the Halfling, and significantly helped the Human, but suddenly, the creature also began to stir once more - its wounds seeming to close and heal as the shocked party looked onward.
Fortunately for them, they managed to leap on its still-prone form and inflict more damage on the creature. Ahronelle lopped off its head with a well-placed sword stroke. Dayve's fire mixtures then saw to it that the creature would never rise again.
Tired, but intact, the parth continued onward, following their directions until they finally reached the Tancreedy mine. As the hour was getting late, and they had no desire to enter the mine at night, they decided to set up camp at the edge of the sparse woods, separated from the mine entrance by perhaps a hundred or two feet of hillside dotted with sparse clumps of grass.
As they discussed the information they discovered, and began to think about heading to the Tancreedy mine to deal with whatever was haunting it, Endrin, the Dwarven sorcerer strolled into the tavern. After a bit of back-and-forth, consisting of "Where were you when we were ready to leave?", and "Why didn't you wait for me?", the discussion moved back to the mine before the party retired for the evening.
In the morning, they headed out of town to the west and into the mountains. They had been given directions, with landmarks, by Dado Heywood, the Karnstown Mining Cooperative Agent, and the trail was well marked, so they did not anticipate too much trouble. Their route took them through a small canyon area where two mountains left narrow, steep-sided walls defining a passage no more than a hundred feet wide, but they knew the mine they were looking for was behod this passage. They also knew that a week or two before, the gnawed bones of Old Man Sanset had been found here, along with a few gnawed bones of his pack mule. The hapless prospectors belongings had been scattered around the area, as well.
Because of this, they were wary as they reached a point in the canyon where it branched into two narrower, parallel paths. As soon as they started down the right-side trail, their elevated caution allowed Raelin and Hestia to feel, if not hear, the sound of something quite heavy thudding to the ground just behind them and around the corner of the central mesa which split the canyon. A few seconds later, a huge creature lumbered around that corner.
Hunched over, but at least 12' tall if it were to stand upright, with long, sinewy arms ending in deadly-looking talon-like claws, the creature spied the party and, in a low guttural voice, uttered one word: "Yummmm". It's greenish skin tone, with sparse patches of wild, wiry hair added to its hideous appearance. The creature smiled, revealing rows of sharp cutting teeth, and a few tusklike ones as well in the gaping mouth beneath it's long, hooked nose.
Hestia, the halfling barbarian immediately charged the beast, pumping herself into a rage as she arrived at its feet. Ahronelle and Endrin began spreading out laterally to gain better position while Dayve charged partway and lobbed a firebomb at the creature. Osric also charged, and struck the creature with a two-handed swing of his greataxe.
The creature, which initially was focused on the bite-sized morsel that was standing before it seeming to get ready to throw a tantrum, was surprised by the axe blow, and quickly shifted his focus to its source. With a great swipe of its taloned arm, it struck at Osric, who was almost laid out by the heavy blow. This enabled Hestia to get in a few swings with her greatsword. The first of these struck the creature in the lower leg (the only part she could reach), but the backswing blow landed badly, and to the halfling's horror, the blade of her greatsword snapped in two as it struck against the creatures bony kneecap flat-bladed.
As Osric shifted to a single-hand grip to allow him to use his shield before another blow fell, and as the halfling was reduced to pounding on the huge creature with fists, more fire bombs from the alchemist, sling stones from the rogue, and magical attacks from the sorcerer rained down on the creature until it fell motionless to the ground.
Raelin the cleric, seeing that the Hestia and Osric had taken some damage (Osric had taken quite a bit), decided to cast an area-of-effect heal spell on the two. This restured the Halfling, and significantly helped the Human, but suddenly, the creature also began to stir once more - its wounds seeming to close and heal as the shocked party looked onward.
Fortunately for them, they managed to leap on its still-prone form and inflict more damage on the creature. Ahronelle lopped off its head with a well-placed sword stroke. Dayve's fire mixtures then saw to it that the creature would never rise again.
Tired, but intact, the parth continued onward, following their directions until they finally reached the Tancreedy mine. As the hour was getting late, and they had no desire to enter the mine at night, they decided to set up camp at the edge of the sparse woods, separated from the mine entrance by perhaps a hundred or two feet of hillside dotted with sparse clumps of grass.
Comments